


Truly, Madly, Deeply

by blakefancier



Series: Stevie series [1]
Category: Captain America (2011)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Gender Changes, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-05-05
Updated: 2012-05-05
Packaged: 2017-11-04 21:48:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,598
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/398545
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blakefancier/pseuds/blakefancier
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Stevie Rogers finds herself in a spot of trouble and she goes to Howard for help.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Truly, Madly, Deeply

**Author's Note:**

> Call this a variation on a theme. 
> 
> *sighs* So, I've been having loads of trouble writing *anything* this past week. I must have started half a dozen stories that went nowhere. This was the only one that would let me finish it. I'm hoping it's because I was excited about The Avengers and now that I've seen it twice, I can get back to writing. Keep your fingers crossed.

Stevie sat on the couch, glass of water in hand, waiting for Howard to come home from work. She hadn't seen him in seven weeks, not since he found out that she was sixteen and not a college coed. She didn't blame him for dumping her; she knew it had been wrong to lie about her age.

But she hadn’t been able to help herself. When he'd walked up to her in that art gallery five months ago—handsome and sophisticated—she'd been pleasantly surprised. All the boys at school and around the neighborhood steered clear of her. They still remembered sickly little Stevie, who spent half her childhood in and out of hospitals. But Howard had walked up to her and started talking and before she knew it, they were having lunch in the gallery cafeteria. She'd been pleasantly surprised when he invited her to look at his private art collection. She'd jumped at the chance.

She was still embarrassed about her naivety, but it honestly hadn't crossed her mind that the invitation was about more than just art. 

He'd shown her his Jackson Pollack collection, then kissed her. Her first real kiss; she remembered thinking it was just like a movie. No, better than a movie. He'd told her she was beautiful, then took her to bed.

They had a blissful five months together, then he'd asked her to move in with him and she knew she had to tell him the truth. It had been a horrible break up.

And now she sat on his couch, waiting, a knot of anxiety in her stomach.

When she heard the front door open, she set her glass on the coffee table and stood up. He walked into the living room, hesitating slightly when he saw her.

"What do you want?" he said, harshly.

She swallowed hard and wiped her sweaty palms on her jeans. He was angry. Of course he was still angry; she'd lied to him. "I need to talk to you."

"You have ten seconds." He set down his briefcase and took off his jacket.

"Ten seconds, Howard—" 

"Five seconds." He clenched his jaw.

Stevie's eyes stung and she bit her lip. "I… I…" 

"We're done." He turned towards the staircase; she reached out and grabbed his arm.

"I'm pregnant!" she said, her voice trembling.

The color drained from his face and he stared at her for a moment before lifting his chin and pulling away from her grasp. "What do you want me to do about it?" 

He sounded indifferent, as if he didn't care about what happened to her. She took a step back and fought back tears, but it was a losing battle. She wiped her eyes, frantically. "I… I don't know. I don’t even know what *I'm* supposed to do about it. I guess I just thought… I..."

"Do you want money? Is that's why you're here?"

"No! I just found out, Howard! As soon as I got out of my appointment with the clinic, I came here!" Steve hunched her shoulders and crossed her arms over her chest. "I didn't know what to do. I… My mom's going to be so mad. And I'm scared. I'm so scared. And I just thought, since it's your baby too, you'd… you…" Her face crumpled and she began to cry in earnest. 

"Fuck! Fuck, fuck, fuck!" He rubbed his face. "How the hell do you do this to me, Stevie? Huh? I've dated actresses and supermodels and none of them drove me half as crazy as you do."

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

Howard made an annoyed sound and gently led her back to the couch. He sat next to her and gave her a handkerchief. He gave her a moment to pull herself together, then he said, "So you're pregnant. Well, there's only one way of dealing with this so that it doesn't impact either of our lives." 

It took her a moment to realize what he was talking about. "No." 

"Stevie—" 

"No, Howard. I'm not… I'm not." Stevie turned towards him and said, softly, "Can't you just hold me? Just for a bit? Please?"

Howard let out a shuddery breath and she could see the reluctance in his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, sure." He put his arms around her and held her close.

"I love you," She pressed her face against his neck. "I know I shouldn't, but I do. And I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I screwed everything up." 

"Shh, we'll figure this out, all right." He rubbed her back. "We'll figure it out."

"I don't expect anything from you. You know that, right? I mean, I'm not looking for money or… or for you to be a part of the baby's life. No one knows about us and I won't tell anyone that you're the father. I owe you that much at least." 

"Stevie, dammit, shut up. Just shut up." His arms tightened around her. "Let me think. I need a moment to think."

She closed her eyes and breathed in his scent. God, she loved the way he smelled, spicy and warm. 

He ran his fingers through her hair and she smiled; he was always playing with her hair. He was one of the few people who told her that he liked it short. "Do you know why I asked you to move in with me?"

Stevie opened her eyes and pulled away to look at him. "What?"

"Do you know why I asked you to move in with me?"

She shook her head. "Because it's what you do when you date someone for a while?"

Howard smiled gently. "Not after just five months, Stevie. Not usually anyway."

"Then why?" She wasn't sure where he was going with this.

"Because I knew if you said yes that… " He swallowed hard. "If you said yes, you wouldn't be scared off when I… when I asked you to marry me."

"What?" she blurted out.

"I was going to ask you to marry me. I even bought the ring. That's why when I found out your age..." He shrugged, looking as hurt as he did that night she'd told him.

Stevie touched his face with trembling fingers. "I would have said yes."

He nodded. "Do you want to see the ring?"

"I…" She didn't know. Did she want to see the ring? Did she want to see what might have been, had she been older? The idea made her chest constrict and her eyes tear up. "Yes."

Howard grabbed his briefcase and opened it up. He took out a small velvet box. "I was going to take it back to the jeweler, but I didn't have time." He opened the box and drew out the ring.

Her eyes widened and she touched it. "Wow, that's… that's a big diamond." He took her hand and slipped it on her finger; it fit perfectly. God, she wanted to cry again. She blinked away the tears. "It's beautiful."

"You're beautiful." He slid off the couch onto one knee. "Marry me."

"What? No, Howard, you don't have to do this." She tried to take off the ring but he grabbed her wrists.

"I know that I don't." Howard's voice shook. "The thing is that even though I know that you're sixteen and that you're too young for me, I still love you. Stevie, I tried, I tried so much to get you out of my head, but this past month and a half has been miserable. And the truth is, I tried to make myself take back the ring. I tried and tried, but I couldn't do it. I couldn't. Because I love you and now you're having my baby. And I'm rich, I'm a billionaire; I could take care of you and the kid. I could hire a nanny so that you could finish high school, then go to college."

"Howard—" 

"And I know you're sixteen. But I just… Stevie…."

"This is crazy," she said, because it was. He nodded at that and looked up at her with hope in his eyes. God. *God.* "Yes. We're both crazy, but yes."

He laughed and kissed her, desperate and hard.

She kissed back, wrapping her arms around him, feeling scared and happy in equal amounts. When they finally broke the kiss, Howard's eyes were wet and she offered him his handkerchief back.

"Thanks," he said, but didn't use it.

"You realize that we'll still need my mom's permission."

Howard made a face. "Yeah, I'm not looking forward to that conversation." 

"I'll tell her it isn't your fault."

"Sweetheart, when a forty-one year old man knocks up your sixteen year old daughter, it's always his fault." 

"Then I'll protect you," she said and pressed a quick kiss to his mouth. 

He snorted softly and sat next to her. "I'll wear comfortable running shoes. Just in case."

"I love you." She leaned her head against his shoulder.

"I love you, too." He sighed. "It isn't going to be easy, you know. People are going to say some horrible things about us when they find out."

"I know." Stevie was still scared, but not about that. She never really cared about what people thought or said about her. "Don't worry about that, Howard. I'm stronger than I look."

"Oh, trust me, babe, I know that." He smiled and wrapped an arm around her waist. 

She sighed and closed her eyes, enjoying the feel of him against her. Whatever happened, no matter how scary the future got, she knew she'd be able to manage it because she'd have Howard by her side.


End file.
